Comparing Emily Dickenson’s Death Poems Essay, Research Paper

Mandy Kruvand

“I heard a Fly buzz- when I died” v.s. “Because I could not stop for Death”

“I heard a Fly buzz- when I died” and “Because I could not stop for Death”, two poems by Emily Dickinson, are both about dying and what happens in death, but present two different views on those topics. In one poem, death is civil, but disappointing in the other.

In “Because I could not stop for Death”, the mood of the poem is very civilized and polite. Death picks her up in a carriage and as they travel towards eternity together, they pass her childhood (symbolized by the school in lines 9-10), adulthood (line 11), and death (line 12). Even though it has been centuries since she died, it hasn’t even felt like more than a day has passed. This poem suggests that death is more enjoyable than painful or boring. For her, death is an enchanting ride to eternity.

“I heard a Fly buzz- when I died” gives the reader a very different view of death. Everybody in this poem is waiting around in a still and silent room for God to come and take the dying person. The narrator is waiting anxiously to die, curious to see exactly what happens, when she is interrupted by as fly that she concentrates on until she dies. This poem suggests that death is overrated, and that some have it worked up to be more grand than it actually is, just a simple end to everything.

Emily Dickinson has analyzed death from many different perspectives and conveyed her thoughts and feelings through her poetry. “Because I could not stop for Death” presents the death experience to be civilized and eternal, but “I heard a Fly buzz- when I died” depicts death to be more of a simple end.

Mandy Kruvand

“I heard a Fly buzz- when I died” v.s. “Because I could not stop for Death”

“I heard a Fly buzz- when I died” and “Because I could not stop for Death”, two poems by Emily Dickinson, are both about dying and what happens in death, but present two different views on those topics. In one poem, death is civil, but disappointing in the other.

In “Because I could not stop for Death”, the mood of the poem is very civilized and polite. Death picks her up in a carriage and as they travel towards eternity together, they pass her childhood (symbolized by the school in lines 9-10), adulthood (line 11), and death (line 12). Even though it has been centuries since she died, it hasn’t even felt like more than a day has passed. This poem suggests that death is more enjoyable than painful or boring. For her, death is an enchanting ride to eternity.

“I heard a Fly buzz- when I died” gives the reader a very different view of death. Everybody in this poem is waiting around in a still and silent room for God to come and take the dying person. The narrator is waiting anxiously to die, curious to see exactly what happens, when she is interrupted by as fly that she concentrates on until she dies. This poem suggests that death is overrated, and that some have it worked up to be more grand than it actually is, just a simple end to everything.

Emily Dickinson has analyzed death from many different perspectives and conveyed her thoughts and feelings through her poetry. “Because I could not stop for Death” presents the death experience to be civilized and eternal, but “I heard a Fly buzz- when I died” depicts death to be more of a simple end.